Metroland

Metroland Readers Poll '15: Arts

 

Best Movie Theater

1. Spectrum 8 Theatres

2. Regal Colonie Center Stadium 13 & RPX

With its wide-ranging booking and amenities, the Spectrum is one of the biggest vote-getters in any category. There’s no number three because most of you just wrote “Bowtie.” There are two Bowtie cinemas and their booking is quite different—specify, people.

Best Museum

1. New York State Museum

2. Albany Institute of History & Art

3. MASS MoCA

The NYSM has to reflect the diversity of New York state’s arts, nature, culture and people. And according to you, they do it very well.

Best Art Gallery

1. Albany Center Gallery

2. (tie) Upstate Artists Guild, MASS MoCA

4. The Hyde Collection

Their gallery exhibits strive to showcase regional artists, and their community events bring art to the streets of the Capital Region. We’re guessing that’s why ACG won.

Best Local Performing Arts Organization

1. Saratoga Performing Arts Center

2. Capital Repertory Theatre

3. Proctors

The breadth of SPAC’s programming more that made up for the fact that their season only lasts part of the year. Capital Rep was a strong second-place finisher.

Best Live Theater Venue

1. Proctors

2. Capital Repertory Theatre

3. Palace Theatre

Proctors won this in a landslide. There is no competing with full-on productions of hit Broadway shows.

Best Comedy Club

1. The Comedy Works

2. Brew Ha Ha Comedy Showcase

3.The Van Dyke

The Comedy Works has two clubs, but received more than 10 times the votes. We’ll attribute it to how they alternate big-name bookings with local showcases.

Best Drive-In Movie Theater

1. Malta Drive-In

2. Hollywood Drive-In

3. Jericho Drive-In

It’s awesome that the region has so many vintage drive-ins, and readers agreed with a big voter turnout for this category; however Malta Drive-In was the winner (maybe there was a surge from chip-fab workers).

Best Children’s Arts Program

1. Steamer No. 10 Theatre

2. Arts Center of the Capital Region

3. Theatre Institute at Sage

A hearty salute to our neighbors across Western Avenue: Steamer No. 10 has made theater come alive for generations of kids.

Best Local Arts Hero

1. Tony Iadicicco

2. Ralph Renna

3. Andrew Gregory

Artist, gallerist, and inventive promoter of the arts from the Hudson to the Mohawk, Tony Iadicicco, executive director of Albany Center Gallery, is clearly your hero.

Best Local Visual Artist

1. Michael Oatman

2. Tony Iadicicco

3. (tie) Alex Waters, Robert Guille

Troy-based multi-media artist Michael Oatman can add recognition by local readers to his long list of accolades.

Best Local Filmmaker

1. Mike Feurstein

2. (tie) Jamel Bosley, Brett Parker

4. Bhawin Suchak

Mike Feurstein, auteur of the four-volume How to Unmake a Bully series, received the volume of votes.

Best Local Fiction Writer

1. Jill Starling

2. William Kennedy

3. Dennis Mahoney

Jill Starling’s topical St. Agnes’ Place apparently resonated with readers for an upset win over perennial favorite William Kennedy.

Best Local Non-Fiction Writer

1. Brett Parker

2. Paul Grondahl

3. William Kennedy

Apparently blogger and non-fiction writer have become synonymous because Brett Parker, a movie blogger, wins this category for the second year in a row, squeaking ahead of author Paul Grondahl, whose latest non-fiction book is These Exalted Acres.  

Best Local Poet

1. Brian Dorn

2. Mary Panza

3. (tie) Jay Renzi, Elizabeth Gordon

The muses were on the side of Brian Dorn this year.

Best Local Solo Musician

1. Erin Harkes

2. Anthony Fallacaro

3. Frank Palangi

The votes were in long before Harkes graced our cover last week: She’s your favorite singer-songwriter.

Best Live Music Venue

1. Saratoga Performing Arts Center

2. Vapor Nightclub

3. Upstate Concert Hall

With beautiful surroundings and with a schedule that runs from major rock bands to world-class classical, it’s no wonder that SPAC is the favorite venue.

Best Dance/Nightclub

1. Vapor Nightclub

2. The Fuze Box

3. Waterworks Pub

Bigger is better when it comes to dance clubs, as Vapor steamed ahead of the runners-up.

Best Open Mic

1. Trick Shots Billiards

2. The Rustic Barn Pub

3. McGeary’s Pub

This was the closest vote total this year in any category, with only one vote separating first from second and second from third place.

Best Art Event

1. Art on Lark

2. Troy Night Out

3. 1st Friday Albany

The yearly Art on Lark, which focuses primarily on art, is your art fair of choice by a wide margin.

Best Country Band

1. Skeeter Creek

2. Big Sky Country

3. Yankee Holler

When it comes to having a loud and loyal fan base, nobody tops Skeeter Creek. Nobody.

Best Local Blues

1. The Accents

2. Bent Rail

3. Holly & Evan

It’s hard to peg the Accents as a blues band when they cover everyone from Rose Royce to Robin Thicke, but the voters have spoken.

Best Local Jazz Band

1. The Chronicles

2. Dylan Perrillo Orchestra

3. Brian Patneaude Quartet

This is probably the second-closest outcome in any category. And while most of you can’t spell “Perillo” or “Patenaude,” you know what you like.

Best Local Punk Band

1. The Last Conspirators

2. The Erotics

3. Slaughterhouse Chorus

Hard touring old-school punk-rock band the Last Conspirators seriously rocked the vote.

Best Local Hip Hop Artist

1. Sean Reid

2. MIRK

3. Masai ATG

Sean Reid (aka DJTwofifty) just edged out your longtime fave MIRK to win this category.

Best Local Rock Band

1. Wild Adriatic

2. Hard Soul

3. Super 400

We love all of your choices. Well done, voters.

Best Local Indie Rock Band

1. Yankee Holler

2. Where’s Alex

3. Wild Adriatic

Skeeter Creek couldn’t touch Yankee Holler in this category.

Best Local Cover Band

1. Skeeter Creek

2. Yankee Holler

3. Big Sky Country

Skeeter Creek: They’re a little bit country; they’re a little bit rock & roll. Yankee Holler weren’t far behind, though.

Best Local Metal Band

1. Maggot Brain

2. (tie) Let Go Daylight, Wartime Manner

4. Dynamite Pleasure Chair

We’re wondering how many votes Maggot Brain got just for their name.

Best Local Hardcore Band

1. Brick by Brick

2. Wartime Manner

3. Aggressive Response

Troycore forever: more than a slogan as Troy metalcore act Brick by Brick racked up the votes.

Best Local Club DJ

1. Mike Cestaro

2. Kendrick DJ Debonair Ricci

3. DJ Trumastr

Newlyweds gave this category an edge, since DJ Mike Cestaro, who does a lot of weddings, won by a slim margin.

Best Comedian

1. Erin Harkes

2. Greg Aidella

3. Jaye McBride

The old line is that musicians really want to be comedians, and vice versa. Harkes actually manages to succeed at both.

10 Fun Things . . . Today

Julie Fowlis' Music of the Scottish Isles at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan at Proctors.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Theatre Institute at Sage.

The Dirty Projectors at Skidmore College.

There are a couple of single tickets left for Amy Schumer at the Egg.

Drop by Tierra Coffee Roasters on Delaware Ave, have a cuppa joe and look at the art.

The United States of Autism screening/Q&A event at the GE Theatre.

Woodstock road trip for the opening of Photography Now at the Center for Photography at Woodstock.

See film fest fave The Sapphires at the Spectrum.

And that GI JOE sequel is still in theaters and Laura Leon says it's fun.

Ten Things to Do Today

Experience an art installation at EMPAC.

Check out a comedy show at Proctors.

See a play at Curtain Call Theatre (pictured).

Hear an indie rock icon at Valentine's.

Or hear a singer-songwriter at the Egg,

Or some Canadian rockers at the Upstate Concert Hall.

Or some electronic sounds at MASS MoCA.

Go to the movies.

Prep for Sunday night's Oscar-cast by reading our preview and picks.

Or just stay in bed all day.

 

 

 

It's Oscar Time Again

Our Academy Awards issue is out tomorrow. Here's the article and predictions. And here's the lovely cover painting by Trevor Paul.

Update: Click on the pic to embiggen.

 

Readers Poll ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Best Movie Theater

1. Spectrum 8 Theaters

2. Regal Colonie Center Stadium 13

3. Bow Tie Cinemas Movieland

 

Best Museum

1. New York State Museum

2. Albany Institute of History & Art

3. MASS MoCA

 

Best Art Gallery

1. Marketplace Gallery

2. Upstate Artists Guild

3. Albany Institute of History & Art

 

Your Opinion Counts

 

VOTE in the Metroland Readers Poll!  

The Year in Pictures: Arts

Alicia Solsman

Saratoga Chamber Music Festival founding director Chantal Juillet said goodbye in August after 20 years at SPAC.

 

Ira Marcks' Illustrative Score

This just in from storyteller/illustrator/RESTYS banjoist Ira Marcks: An "Illustrative Score" for a piece of music by The Few Moments. 

The piece is essentially a music video, consisting of one 50-foot scrolling graphic novel that Marcks spent the past year animating. Oh yeah, the thing is a whopping 45 minutes long, with every 8x6 inches of illustration corresponding to 30 seconds of music. Epic.

I'd normally embed something like this, but it's probably best if ya'll check out the site, make some time, and settle in for optimal viewing. You can find the video here, on a site devoted to Marcks' comic strip Witch Knots. For more on Marcks' band, RESTYS, and their new self-title album, click.

Metroland Holiday Gift Guide!

BOOKS!

TOYS!

MUSIC!

DVDs!

GAMES!

TECH LIFE!

LOCAL/GLOBAL!

Pictures of fun stuff we recommend:

 

(If you're wondering about the TOP image, I didn't write about Holiday CD's this year, as is my wont. Go out and buy, in a local used record store, an old holiday LP like this Firestone tire compilation instead.)

UPDATED to improve layout.